Dementia

By: Ashley, Lindsay and Emily

Definition
Definition: Dementia, also known as senility, is not a
disease; it is a term associated with a list of symptoms such
as decline in memory and other thinking skills. These
declines have to be serious enough to interfere with a
person's everyday activities to be considered dementia.
People with dementia have serious problems with two or
more brain functions
Common Types Of Dementia
Alzheimer's is the most common form. It
makes up 60 - 80 percent of cases.
Other common types include: Vascular
dementia, mixed dementia, frontotemporal dementia and
normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Signs and Symptoms of Dementia
Many dementias are progressive, meaning symptoms start out slowly and gradually get
worse. Some signs and symptoms of dementia are:

Misplacing things-Anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or keys,
but a person with Alzheimer's disease may put things in inappropriate
places: for example, an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar
bowl.

Changes in personality
People's personalities can change somewhat with age. But a person
with Alzheimer's disease can become confused, suspicious or
withdrawn.
Memory loss that affects day-to-day function
A person with Alzheimers disease may forget things more
often and not remember them later, especially things that
have happened more recently.
Problems with language
a person with Alzheimer's disease may forget simple words
or substitute words, making her sentences difficult to
understand.
Changes in mood and behaviour
You may find someone with Alzheimer's disease exhibiting
varied mood swings -- from calm to tears to anger -- for no
apparent reason.
Causes of Dementia
Dementia is caused by
damages brain cells. The
damaged brain cells lose the
ability to communicate with
each other properly.
The brain has many regions,
each responsible for different
functions. Damage in different
regions can cause different
effects.
Fun Facts About Dementia
-Dementia is not a normal part of ageing
-35.6 million people worldwide have dementia
-58% of them live in developing countries
-A new case of dementia is diagnosed every 4 seconds
-The number of cases worldwide is expected to double
every 20 years to 67.5 million
Incidence Rate
The incidence rate
ratio is defined as the
incidence rate of an
age group divided by
the incidence rate of
the age group that is 5
years younger.
Bilingualism
A study in canada revealed that
people who are fully bilingual and
speak both languages everyday
for most of their lives can delay
the onset of dementia by up to 4
years.
"The researchers determined that the mean age
of onset of dementia symptoms in the
monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the
bilingual group was 75.5 years, This difference
remained even after considering the possible
effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal
education, employment and even gender as
[influences] in the results."
Another study in India backed up these findings.
This team compared the age that dementia
symptoms appeared in some 650 people over 6
years.About half spoke at least two languages.
This group's symptoms started on average four
and a half years later than those in people who
were monolingual.
What's more, the same pattern appeared in
three different types of dementia: Alzheimer's,
frontotemporal and vascular. The results also
held true for a group of people who were
illiterate.
Bibliography
Unknown Author. What is Dementia? Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimers
Association. Unknown date. Website. September 26 2014
Marry Ellen Ellis. Signs of Dementia Alzheimers Association. Alzheimers
Association.Website. September 26 2014.
Unknown Author. 10 Facts on Dementia. World Health Organization. World
Health Organization. Website. September 27 2014.